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Hi all,
Yesterday, I logged in my Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account and requested to book an award flight via an online agent. However, they told me my account is auditted so that they cannot deduct points from my account. This morning, I attempted to log in my account and found that my account was suspended.
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Recent activities of my account:
Mid-May: Book an award flight for myself.
In the end of May: Book 2 award flights for my friends and another 2 for my colleagues.
Mid-June: 1 for my friend.
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I am so frustrated about the suspension and still haven’t figured out the reason. I’ve emailed to their fraud.query email address as per their online agent request. Does anyone have similar experience (e.g., the averaged timescale for their responses, suspended account, etc)? I appeciate any feedback/suggestions on this issue! Besides, are there any terms or policies stating that the award flight can be redeemed for the account owner?I did a few months ago.
Fraud dept did get back to me & after few questions answered open my account.
Just a matter of waiting.Your last question with regards to VA policy is very clear in terms & conditions.
I’m still fairly new to Virgin but certainly this kind of thing is a red flag for BA. How do you get that many points – I certainly don’t earn enough to be using mine for colleagues or even friends?!
https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/03/14/british-airways-has-closed-my-avios-account/
There is nothing per se against using your points to book for family / friends but surely you can recognise that booking 5 such flights for others in the space of a few weeks is going to arouse suspicion.
Have you given a reward voucher to someone & its been used? Given VA to someone ? If they think you have possibly sold these then your account will get closed.
Second Northernlass, how do earn so many points for 5 virgin redemptions in a short space of time?
They might have bought points in several sales over a longer period and the booked it. Some people spend £100k per month on Virgin credit cards…
I wasn’t casting aspersions, I am genuinely interested! But why would you buy the points then use them to book a flight for someone else?
100k a month on virgin cards? Genuinely asking, how?
I did a few months ago.
Fraud dept did get back to me & after few questions answered open my account.
Just a matter of waiting.Hi mrcrsearle. Thank you for your reply. May I know how long did they get back to you? I didn’t give award voucher to anyone else. All I did are redeeming award flights for them. I am not selling them tickets, we are gonna celebrate the summer together…
I’m still fairly new to Virgin but certainly this kind of thing is a red flag for BA. How do you get that many points – I certainly don’t earn enough to be using mine for colleagues or even friends?!
https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/03/14/british-airways-has-closed-my-avios-account/
Hi NorthernLass, all the points under my account are transferred from my Amex card (issued in the US). They have 30% transfer bonus in May, so I transferred points to book a trip for them. I didn’t sell them tickets but I don’t know how to prove it.
Hi
Took about 2 months. Their fraud dept & customer service were professional. I wouldnt worry too much.. just wait for a reply.
There is nothing per se against using your points to book for family / friends but surely you can recognise that booking 5 such flights for others in the space of a few weeks is going to arouse suspicion.
I agree it is possible for them to start an investigate on my account because I booked flights for others who have different surnames. However, I also need to mention that I got all the points legitimately (through my Amex card, same name as my flying club account) and didn’t sell them tickets. I read the policies and asked their agents that am I able to book a flight for others? They told me it’s not against the rules. Nonetheless, my account now is suspended and all the flights tickets are cancelled (one of them even departs today and tomorrow), feel so frustrated and overwhelmed.
Let us know how you get on. Just out of interest, what route did you book? I can envisage booking, for example, US domestic routes on Delta causing less of an issue than if you were taking your friends on long haul trips from the UK to NYC or NAS in Upper Class – and paying Virgin’s surcharges!
Hi
Took about 2 months. Their fraud dept & customer service were professional. I wouldnt worry too much.. just wait for a reply.
2 months… It takes longer than I expected… But I appreciate providing the information!
Let us know how you get on. Just out of interest, what route did you book? I can envisage booking, for example, US domestic routes on Delta causing less of an issue than if you were taking your friends on long haul trips from the UK to NYC or NAS in Upper Class – and paying Virgin’s surcharges!
Hi NorthernLass. I booked flights from Taipei to Okinawa operated by China Airlines since Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam this spring. There are many sweet points for booking tickets operated by China Airlines and that’s the reason I transferred my points to VS.
There is nothing per se against using your points to book for family / friends but surely you can recognise that booking 5 such flights for others in the space of a few weeks is going to arouse suspicion.
I agree it is possible for them to start an investigate on my account because I booked flights for others who have different surnames. However, I also need to mention that I got all the points legitimately (through my Amex card, same name as my flying club account) and didn’t sell them tickets. I read the policies and asked their agents that am I able to book a flight for others? They told me it’s not against the rules. Nonetheless, my account now is suspended and all the flights tickets are cancelled (one of them even departs today and tomorrow), feel so frustrated and overwhelmed.
Thanks for that. I fear the thread got side tracked by how you got the points!
As I said the issue isn’t per se using your points for others (which is within the rules) but that you made 5 bookings in the space of a couple of weeks for 4/5 different people on a partner airline that is the red flag.
All you can do is await for the audit department to contact you and then be prepared to answer their questions clearly, concisely and honestly about each of the bookings including how you know the people you booked the trips for.
The comment about the flights being cancelled must have overlapped with mine, I’ve only just seen it. I’m sorry about this; while airline Ts and Cs can’t really be argued with, they should at least carry out a proper investigation before taking such drastic action.
I have read in other forums (e.g. FT) that a lot of fraudulent and irregular activity involving loyalty points is committed in China so if that’s true, maybe that’s why Virgin was suspicious, on top of the multiple bookings being made in a short space of time?
Sorry to hear that they cancelled flights due tomorrow. Stressful no doubt
Begs the question what compensation you might be due if they reinstate your account, but after the booked flight dates.Nothing, I would guess, the Ts and Cs will allow Virgin to do this. Loyalty points remain the property of the issuing business so they can do what they want with them. This is why forums like this exhort readers not to do anything which might lead to them being suspected of breaching Ts and Cs.
Thanks for that. I fear the thread got side tracked by how you got the points!
As I said the issue isn’t per se using your points for others (which is within the rules) but that you made 5 bookings in the space of a couple of weeks for 4/5 different people on a partner airline that is the red flag.
All you can do is await for the audit department to contact you and then be prepared to answer their questions clearly, concisely and honestly about each of the bookings including how you know the people you booked the trips for.
I did a few months ago.
Fraud dept did get back to me & after few questions answered open my account.
Just a matter of waiting.Hi, thanks for the reply. Is it possible to share what questions they might ask? So that I can prepare documents in advance and reach out to my friends as soon as possible.
Sorry to hear that they cancelled flights due tomorrow. Stressful no doubt
Begs the question what compensation you might be due if they reinstate your account, but after the booked flight dates.Definately, I will update what they reply to me and what compensation I will get after all issues are perfectly solved.
Nothing, I would guess, the Ts and Cs will allow Virgin to do this. Loyalty points remain the property of the issuing business so they can do what they want with them. This is why forums like this exhort readers not to do anything which might lead to them being suspected of breaching Ts and Cs.
When I booked the tickets, I didn’t think much about this. I just read and ask about Ts and Cs and tried my best to follow their rules. Hope they can understand.
I can imagine it being confusing as Ts and Cs will probably say something along the lines of Virgin reserve the right to cancel flights/accounts if they suspect fraud, gaming the system and so on but don’t list exactly what behaviours would cause them to suspect this. It’s very one-sided and the reason it’s always best to err on the side of caution.
Booking for 5 friends …. should be OK.
BUT … only if: a) all the flights are from London (because your friends should live where you live) and b) none of the people you book for has had any flights booked off someone elses VS account.
The people who get caught for selling miles get caught out by b). You can be as clever as you want to cover your tracks, but if the person who is buying your miles has had seats booked by 5 other people in the past from 5 other VS accounts, it is easy to spot.
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